ABSTRACT
Contrast enhancement during the dynamic MR imaging is important for the detection and characterization of focal liver lesions. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a timing examination with a injection of a 1.0-mL bolus of gadopentetate dimeglumine into the antecubital vein followed by rapid dynamic scanning and measurement of signal intensity of the aorta could help to obtain proper arterial-dominant phase images for the characterization of focal hepatic lesions during subsequent multiphase dynamic MR imaging. The imaging delay to acquisition of the first gadolinium-enhanced image for multiphase dynamic MR imaging was set to equal the time to peak aortic enhancement during the test examination. The first contrast-enhanced images of 80 patients with 160 focal liver lesions (hepatocellular carcinoma, n = 79; cavernous hemangioma, n = 51; metastatic tumor, n = 30) were then retrospectively reviewed. Peak aortic enhancement occurred between 10 and 28 seconds (mean, 16.5 seconds +/- 3.1) after starting the infusion of contrast material in 80 patients during the test-examination. Depending on the findings of intrahepatic vascular enhancement on the full-scale dynamic images, hepatic arterial phase (n = 11, 14%) or sinusoid phase (n = 65, 81%) imaging was obtained during the first gadolinium-enhanced acquisition in 76 (95%) of 80 patients. Three different lesions were well characterized and easily distinguished from each other (p < .0001) on the first-phase images depending on their enhancement pattern. In the majority of patients, timing examination with test-bolus injection was helpful in obtaining qualified images for the characterization of various focal lesions.
Subject(s)
Image Enhancement , Liver/pathology , Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Female , Hepatic Artery/pathology , Humans , Liver Neoplasms/diagnosis , Liver Neoplasms/secondary , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Male , Middle Aged , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Unroofed coronary sinus is a rare cardiac anomaly in which communication occurs between the coronary sinus and the left atrium due to the partial or complete absence of the roof of the coronary sinus. It is usually associated with other cardiovascular anomalies, especially persistent left superior vena cava. It is often not discovered during cardiac catheterization without clinical suspicion. We report three cases of unroofed coronary sinus which were incidentally detected by magnetic resonance imaging.
Subject(s)
Heart Defects, Congenital/diagnosis , Adolescent , Cardiac Catheterization , Female , Heart Defects, Congenital/complications , Heart Defects, Congenital/surgery , Humans , Infant , Magnetic Resonance Imaging , Male , Superior Vena Cava Syndrome/complicationsABSTRACT
Two soluble serine proteases Do and So from Escherichia coli were found to distinctively cleave the purified, 39 kDa Ada protein into fragments with sizes of 12-31 kDa. Protease So appears to generate a C-terminal 19 kDa polypeptide, similarly to OmpT protease. In addition, the purified 19 kDa C-terminal half of Ada protein can be further processed mainly to an 18 kDa fragment by protease So and to a 12 kDa by protease Do. These results suggest that proteases Do and So are involved in endogenous cleavage of Ada protein, which may play a role in down-regulating the adaptive response to alkylating agents.
